A time of reflection. A time of community. A time of indulging yourself into the flavorful eateries provided by a loved one. What is this, you may ask? A wholesome family dinner.
When I was growing up, in a quaint village outside Cincinnati, family dinner was always something we held at the utmost importance. With three siblings of various ages, it was always hard to get everyone together.
However, we always made sure when my mom started cooking up the family recipe for Macaroni and Cheese, the whole gang was there.
My father often worked late at a doctor's office checking the status of the aging patients with kidney problems. My siblings and I would come home from swim practices, drum lessons and award ceremonies late most nights of the week.
We ate dinner later than any family I knew, but we ate it together.
When we ate together, it was always a good time. My brothers and I would poke fun at my sister for something trivial, and my mother and father would discuss our schoolwork and plans for the next vacation. We spent this time laughing and fighting together. Mostly laughing. We learned more about each other than if we would have all gone out to eat at different restaurants with buddies from high school. This made my family closer.
Family dinners are a little different at DePauw. A few nights a week, I get the privilege of eating at either the Den or the Hub with the DePauw cross country team. Other nights, I eat with friends at a fraternity.
Even sometimes, dinner is up for grabs, like a GCB at Marvin's or the famous taco 12-pack at Taco Bell with a friend.
This was not easy at first; a difficult transition, but it was an essential one. First of all, I am not used to eating at 6 p.m. I am used to running into the house, starving, nearing 9 p.m.
Secondly, I am surrounded by a group of kids, my age, with no relation to me whatsoever. This was just a weekend thing back in the day, not everyday like it is now.
I understand several of us are feeling similar about our evening dinners away from family. However, it's important that we all form a new family here at DePauw.
We are here for four years. We live together, we hang out together, we go to class together and we eat together. Ronald Reagan said, "All great change in America starts at the dinner table." It all starts with your conversations with your family at family dinner.
There are plenty of places on campus to eat and plenty of people to eat with. Sure, there are the more common dinner options: Marvin's, the Hub and The Den, but there are also alternatives like Chief's, Los Martinez, Fluttering Duck Bar & Grill, Mama Nunz's, Almost Home, 2 West Bistro, Fairway Family Restaurant, Blue Door Café and more.
We can always get fast food like McDonald's and Long John Silver's anywhere in the United States, but these local restaurants have great food for a great price and make me feel at home again.
I miss the Mac and Cheese and the wood-grilled salmon in the summer, but this is my DePauw family, and these are my DePauw family dinners.
- Austin is a sophomore from Terrance Park, Ohio, with an undecided major.